In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London

Schrödinger, Shoreditch Church Cat

January 18, 2016

by the gentle author

Schrödinger, the incumbent feline

At the end of last summer, Robin Gore-Hatton, Verger of St Leonard’s in Shoreditch, noticed a skinny cat hanging around the portico and gave him food and water. “He was thin and hungry, so I took pity on him,” Robin admitted to me.

A lithe and limber creature, Schrödinger disposed of the church’s mouse problem with alacrity, thus earning his keep in exchange for services in pest control. “Like most cats, I realise he adopted his owner rather than the other way around,” Robin added, acknowledging that Schrödinger has now established himself as a permanent fixture at the church.

Conscientious in his duties, Schrödinger may usually be found at his customary position sitting discreetly beneath a table just inside the door where he observes the constant flow of visitors, retreating under the pews when crowds arrive. “He’s shy,” confirmed Robin, “but it’s like he’s biding his time to assert his presence.” Certainly, frayed corners of two hessian-covered notice boards in the side aisle attest to Schrödinger marking his territory.

“It does feel like he’s the boss,” Robin confessed to me with a helpless grin, as we strolled around the church with Schrödinger following close at his ankles in expectation of dinner time. “Only I feed him,” Robin whispered in covert explanation,“otherwise everyone would give him food and he’d grow fat.”

Yet in spite of his usual feline qualities, there is also an air of mystery to this implacable creature that is capable of vanishing and reappearing without explanation. “Sometimes at night, he disappears,” Robin confided, “and then I find him in the morning asleep in the crypt – I think he feels at home down there, which is something we share in common.”

Schrödinger and Robin Hatton-Gore, Verger at St Leonard’s - “It does feel like he’s the boss”

Cats naturally belong in and around churches. I once lived in a small rural community where the priest’s cat went to church with everyone else on Sunday. He would jump up on a window ledge and sit there quietly and quite still from start to finish. He also caught the mice!

This is a lovely piece about the Shoreditch cat lots of compassion here. They do earn their keep by keeping mice and rats down. Its all good PR for St Leonard’s church, these church cats do have their loyal band of followers; well done that verger. My favorite is Archie the Wells Cathedral shop cat seen in 2015 always on duty in his basket on the counter. Visitors love him and its good for sales too. In a way they are at home in these holy places. JB.

Spitafields Cats part 1 has a cat name Carlos pictured and he looks quite like Schrodinger! I thought there was a mystery solved before doing some careful back and forth comparisons and determined they are not the same cat.

I don’t think it is true that cats adopt people — or it’s only half-true. They need affection and companionship as strongly as any creature. I feel for that feral cat; he looks lonely and we can tell from what you say he is sometimes starving. He needs a home and a human friend to be close too. What seems mystery is his instinctive behavior to stay safe is to keep away from creatures most of whom could easily kill him.

I didn’t realize you had so many cat blogs. I shall read them across today.

Good job Shrodingner! I am of the opinion that the good work that cats do to keep rats in absence goes largely unappreciated. What if we were to turn that task over to dogs? No, no, it is the cat who intervened during the Middle Ages, to be the unsung hero that helped quell the raging plague. But does it ever get it’s proper credit for that important task? Not likely. Generally it’s dogs that hog all the glory as ‘man’s best friend’.

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